Data communication systems exchange user data for user equipment to provide various data communication services. The user equipment may be phones, computers, media players, intelligent machines, and the like. The data communication services might be media streaming, video conferencing, machine-to-machine data transfers, internet access, or some other computerized information service.
Data communication systems use wireless access points to extend the range of their communication services and enable user mobility. The wireless access points perform wireless networking tasks like device handovers, radio interference management, and multipoint coordination. In Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks, the wireless access points are evolved Node Bs (eNodeBs).
To extend the wireless service footprint even more, wireless relays are used between the wireless access points and the user equipment. A wireless relay exchanges wireless signals that transport user data with user equipment. The wireless relay also exchanges corresponding wireless signals that transport the user data with the wireless access points. The wireless relay may attach to several wireless access points to obtain better service for the user equipment. Each attachment for the wireless relay requires that access network access a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server to obtain an Internet Protocol (IP) address. DHCP access uses a Discover Offer Request Acknowledge (DORA) process that requires several messages. If the wireless relay attaches to 12 wireless access points, then the DHCP server is contacted 12 times to get 12 IP addresses for the wireless relay. The DORA messaging for wireless relay attachment is significant.
Unfortunately, the wireless relay periodically re-attaches to the wireless access points. This re-attachment requires additional DORA messaging to reacquire the IP addresses and networking data for the wireless relay. The re-attachment situation is exacerbated when multiple wireless relays re-attach at the same time—perhaps after a power outage. The use of the DHCP server in this manner becomes expensive and time-consuming.